


butterflies

by timuzu



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F, Ficlet, One-Sided Attraction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-20 08:28:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8242865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timuzu/pseuds/timuzu
Summary: "I need to ask you something, Hanayo-chan""Have you...ever been in love?"





	

Rehearsal was cancelled again this week, the weather forecasts all pointed towards another white December. Not that Rin minded the snow or the cold, snow meant warm mittens and hot chocolate and the slow bubbling of sukiyaki pot with your legs buried under the kotatsu. But sitting in the club room now, looking at Umi's scrunched up eyebrows and Honoka's worried smile, Rin kept the suggestion of an after-school snowball fight to herself.    
  
"..Christmas performance is coming up" Nico was saying, Rin watched her cross her arm defiantly on the desk "and frankly, I don't think we're ready."    
  
Honoka let out a noise between a sigh and a nervous chuckle, "We'll be ready, Nico-chan! Don't worry..." Her voice trailed off at the look on Umi's face, which Rin could only describe as threatening.    
  
Hanayo quipped in, "as long as we work hard, i believe in  μ's !" and she was backed by nods from Kotori, who was determined to avoid the direction of Umi's silent disapproval. Rin looked to the other third years, Eli had her "student president" face on, her hands clasped under her chin, eyes deep in thought, Nozomi's smile froze in place. It seemed like a bad situation, and Rin wanted desperately to break the tension.    
  
Then amidst the silence, Maki spoke up. With one hand twirling the waves of her hair, Maki's voice carried idyllically in the club room.   
  
"If you want, we can practice at my house"     
  
And just like that, the tension cracked and disappeared. Honoka reached across and grasped Maki's hands, chirping excitely and gratefully that "Maki-chan's saved the day again!", Umi relaxed her shoulders and leaned back in her chair, Nozomi and Eli shared a knowing gaze. hanayo turned in her seat and said to Rin, "isn't this great? it will be an amazing performance!" Rin smiled and nodded, and weirdly, the jittery feelings in her stomach stayed.    
  
\--

  
Maki caught up with her afterclass. She stood behind Rin when she was putting on her coat, and with two taps on the right shoulder, Maki asked    
  
"You are awfully quiet these days, Rin."    
  
"Huh?" Rin turned around, held her gaze to Maki's for a mere second, then turned around again to pretend to fasten her gloves.    
  
"You feeling ok?"    
  
Rin felt the other girl walk to her side, close enough so that when she turns around, they'd be walking side by side ,  shoulders to shoulders. "Ya, I'm fine!" Rin never knew her voice could sound so high, maybe she's caught something afterall.    
  
"Hey..." the hesitation in Maki's voice made Rin turn, and the strange jittery feeling returned.    
  
"Want to walk home together?"    
  
Rin was sure she skipped a beat when she answered, but she was determined not to be embarrassed. "Sure!"    
  
"And maybe...we could go grab some hot tea on the way..?" Maki twirled at her hair again, her face turned slightly away.    
  
This offer surprised Rin, out of no where, she rebounded back. "Yeah definitely, Maki-chan! Hey wait, I thought your dad always picked you up from school in that big fancy black car. Y'know, the Porsche."    
  
"It's actually a BMW, but....ya, he's on a business trip." Maki shouldered her bag, and Rin crossed her own school bag across her chest.    
  
"You know Maki-chan, we've never hung out like this before." Rin said the next part before she realized it, "just the two of us, like a date."    
  
Maki laughed at this, and it only made the jitters worse. "Yeah i guess, we'll see how this turns out." Rin mirrored the laugh, and hoped that this will be start of something new.   


  
\--- 

  
Maki ordered cafe latte with a box of vanilla cookies. As she sipped her hot chocolate from the side, Rin noticed how Maki placed her order with the gentlest smile at the barista, her face flushed from the cold outside.    
  
"I got us some dessert" Maki walked over to where Rin was waiting, raising the cookie box as she gestured to an empty table beside the window, "let's warm up before going back outside."    
  
"It's because Maki-chan wears such thin stockings" Rin made a point to poke at Maki's back as she followed. "What a risque idol~"    
  
"Shut up" Rin could hear the smile in her voice. "It's all I have and...and the forecast said it wasn't going to snow today!"    
  
"Ok ok" Rin plops herself on the highchair across Maki's, "I'll be sure to tell Kotori-chan to design some sexy outfits for our next live." She watched Maki's face turn red, she couldn't help but laugh, it was a good feeling.    
  
Maki smiled too, and she sighed into her latte, with both her hands wrapped around the ceramic cup. "Rin, you know.. I'm glad I met you."    
  
Rin's heart skipped a beat, and she looked at Maki.   
  
"I'm glad I met you and Hanayo, and Honoka and Nozomi, and all of  μ's ."    
  
"Oh"    
  
"Yeah.. I- I'm thankful. I didn't know I could be this happy." Maki laughed into her cup, and her eyes shine so bright at that moment Rin felt herself lost in the halo of her iris.    
  
But the magic of the moment was lost as Rin let Maki's words sink in.  _ So not just me. _ She gripped at her cup, angry at herself for being so selfish.

“Rin..? are you alright?” Maki’s voice seemed to carry over from a mile away. Rin wanted to hold on to those syllables of her name, lock it deep, and never let go.

“Ya, I’m just...tired.”

Maki let her eyes linger a second longer on Rin’s face, Rin let hers stray to the floor. She couldn’t meet Maki’s gaze, this time more than others. She knew that if she looked up, she could not conceal behind what walls she had built in the past weeks, when she first felt the tickles in her heart.

Finally, Maki gave a sigh. “I know Love Live is coming up, but do try and take care of yourself first, ok?” She wrapped a cookie in napkins and handed to Rin. “Umi and Nico make us work so hard.” She peered once more at Rin, “You’ve always had the most energy out of all of us, so it worries me to see you like this, Rin.” 

Just as Rin braved herself to look up, she saw the movement of Maki’s hand as it came towards her face. A gentle touch of her forehead with the back of her hand, trailing down to the ovals of her cheek. 

“You are burning up.” Maki withdrew her hand, now looking worried. “I have some cold medicine here if you’d like-” 

“No, no! It’s fine, I’m fine!” Rin shook her head, letting her hair shield the redness of her cheeks. She could still feel the phantom of Maki’s hand on her cheek, a subtle sweetness lingering where her fingers met her skin. 

That night, as she lay in the darkness of her room, Rin realized that she was in love. 

**Author's Note:**

> i would die for rin/maki, i hope to write something in the future for college au rinmaki, i think it will be interesting to contrast their relationship in a more mature setting *_*


End file.
